The Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administrator\'s Guide approaches Microsoft Windows 2000 as a good omnibus should: deliberately, one piece at a time, and with lots of detail. Emphasis goes to Active Directory and the other exciting new features that weren\'t part of earlier Windows distributions, but you\'ll find everything covered amply. Robert Williams and Mark Walla have written a comprehensive treatment of their subject that\'s suitable for newcomers to Windows 2000, as well as for more experienced hands who want to update their knowledge and have a reliable reference nearby. The authors\' apparent intention is for their readers to scan the index--which is quite good--for terms that relate to what they want to accomplish under Windows 2000. Armed with page references, readers then can quickly survey the relevant section for the treatment of the subject that interests them. In most cases, they\'ll find textual descriptions of general standards (such as IP address resolution), prose explanations of Windows 2000 technologies (like its Domain Name Service (DNS) implementation), and no-nonsense procedures that show how to do particular jobs in Windows 2000. Conceptual diagrams aren\'t as clear as those found in competing references, but the prose and procedures are quite good. Look into this book if you like to learn by reading, and need a book that answers questions of the "How do I...?" type.